Man held in Google stock fraud

The FBI has arrested a Dutch native in New York for allegedly selling $2.8 million in nonexistent shares of Google, the Internet search engine.

Shamoon Rafiq, who was arrested at his home March 5, is accused of fraud as part of the scheme to sell victims shares of "Series B Preferred Stock" in Google, prior to what he described as the company's impending initial public offering, according to authorities.

Google, based in Mountain View, has no such shares and isn't raising any capital, the complaint said.

Rafiq is alleged to have collected $500,000 from at least four victims and offered them promissory notes for another $2.3 million. The FBI identified the victims only by profession, including the chairman of a global telecommunications company, a New York investment banker, a corporate attorney and a senior executive at a brokerage firm, according to the complaint.